Mahy-inspired playground wins top prize

EXCITING CONCEPT: Four year 6 pupils from Selwyn House School have won the Amazing Place playground design competition with their design inspired by Margaret Mahy.

KIRK HARGREAVES/Fairfax NZ

WELL DONE: Prime Minister John Key congratulates pupils Harriet Compton-Moen, 9, Zelle Logan, 10, Enya O'Malley, 10. Lucy Jessep also helped in the design but she has since moved to England.

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A playground inspired by and named after one of New Zealand's most popular children's authors is the latest addition to the central-city blueprint.

Prime Minister John Key was in Christchurch today to congratulate the winners of the Amazing Place playground design competition run by the Christchurch Central Development Unit (CCDU).

Year 6 pupils Harriet Compton-Moen, 9, Zelle Logan, 10, and Enya O'Malley, 10, took out the title with their design based on the work of the late Margaret Mahy. Lucy Jessep helped in the design but has since moved to England.

More than 6000 Canterbury schoolchildren took part in the competition, and judges had almost 300 entries to choose from.

Key said honouring Mahy by naming the city's new playground after her was fitting.

Mahy died last year, aged 76.

The Margaret Mahy Memorial Playground will be built in the central city's eastern frame, one of the anchor projects in the CCDU's redevelopment of Christchurch.

Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Minister Gerry Brownlee said he was impressed by the amount of work that had gone into the entries.

"In particular, this design has given a lot of thought to how children and their families can play together, creating a fun and safe environment so that all children, including those with special needs, can make the most of this amazing place," he said.

Designers working with the CCDU will now look at ways ideas from the winning entries can be incorporated into the final design for the playground.